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Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is accusing President Donald Trump of asking Chinese President Xi Jinping to help Trump get reelected by agreeing to increase purchase of U.S. soybeans and other farm commodities.

China will fully comply with its promises to buy U.S. ag commodities and the U.K. will be held to demands that it lift barriers on American farm products, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers Wednesday.

U.S. corn and ethanol groups are celebrating a recent shipment to Mexico of gasoline with a 10% ethanol blend, but the fate of a more permanent acceptance of E10 in the country isn’t yet solidified as the government works to rewrite regulations to boost the legal blend rate.

Ahead of a pair of congressional hearings, farm groups and agribusiness interests are urging President Donald Trump to give the Chinese time to fulfill their promises to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural commodities.

The Senate is set this week to pass a landmark land conservation bill over the objections of cattle producers, and President Donald Trump’s trade chief will face questioning by Senate and House panels.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced Friday he’s chosen Julie Callahan – an FDA and USDA alumnus – to work side-by-side with Ambassador Gregg Doud, representing the interests of the U.S. ag sector around the globe.

Chinese importers closed contracts to buy 720,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans – most of it for new crop – according to a USDA announcement Thursday, signaling the country is calculating the growing tightness of Brazilian supplies and locking in deliveries past September.

It’s been a constant struggle over the years to get Japan to buy more U.S. rice, and a new development may be just the ticket to help improve trade ties.

China, despite economic woes and its battle with COVID-19, is buying more foreign dairy this year, but the increased imports are doing far less for U.S. producers than the industry had hoped for after the “phase one” trade pact went into effect in February.

As the spread of COVID-19 in April slowed meat processing facilities and important Latin American trading partners lost purchasing power, U.S. beef exports fell below last year's totals and pork exports grew at a slower rate than in the first quarter.